948 research outputs found

    L'Ă©valuation des effectifs de la population des pays africains : vol. 2

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    Dans la conclusion de l'ouvrage sur "L'Ă©valuation des effectifs de la population des pays africains", les auteurs mettent en perspective le contenu des 44 monographies pour en tirer des conclusions relatives Ă  l'amĂ©lioration des mĂ©thodes de collecte et d'analyse. Dans la premiĂšre partie, les auteurs dressent un bilan des sources de donnĂ©es (estimations anciennes, recensements administratifs, autres sources administratives, recensements statistiques, enquĂȘtes post-censitaires, enquĂȘtes par sondages), puis dans la deuxiĂšme partie, ils procĂšdent Ă  l'Ă©tude critique des sources en examinant successivement le champ gĂ©ographique, la population de rĂ©fĂ©rence, les problĂšmes posĂ©s par certaines catĂ©gories de population et les facteurs susceptibles d'avoir une influence sur la qualitĂ© de la collecte. La troisiĂšme partie est consacrĂ©e Ă  l'analyse de la cohĂ©rence des donnĂ©es, en fonction du type et de la qualitĂ© des donnĂ©es disponibles. Enfin en conclusion sont prĂ©sentĂ©s les effectifs proposĂ©s dans les monographies pour la population des pays revue au 1er janvier 1975, et sont rassemblĂ©es des propositions d'amĂ©lioration des sources de donnĂ©e

    Durability of Therapeutic Response to Milnacipran Treatment for Fibromyalgia. Results of a Randomized, Double-Blind, Monotherapy 6-Month Extension Study

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    To evaluate the durability of improvement and long-term efficacy of milnacipran treatment in fibromyalgia, to assess efficacy in patients re-randomized from placebo to milnacipran, and to collect additional information on the tolerability and efficacy of long-term treatment with milnacipran.A total of 449 patients who successfully completed a 6-month lead-in study enrolled in this 6-month extension study (87.7% of eligible subjects). Patients initially receiving milnacipran 200 mg/day during the lead-in study were maintained at 200 mg/day (n = 209); patients initially assigned to placebo or milnacipran 100 mg/day were re-randomized (1:4) to either 100 mg/day (n = 48) or 200 mg/day (n = 192) of milnacipran for an additional 6 months of treatment. Efficacy assessments included visual analog scale pain ratings, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) total score, and Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC).Patients continuing on milnacipran demonstrated a sustained reduction in pain over the full 12-month period. Additional beneficial effects were also maintained, as indicated by the PGIC and FIQ. Patients initially assigned to either placebo or milnacipran 100 mg/day in the lead-in study and subsequently re-randomized to milnacipran 200 mg/day in the extension study experienced further improvements in their mean pain scores, FIQ total scores, and PGIC ratings at 1 year. Milnacipran treatment was generally well tolerated. The most commonly reported newly emergent adverse event was nausea.In addition to confirming that milnacipran safely and effectively improves the multiple symptoms of fibromyalgia, these data indicate that milnacipran provides 1-year durable efficacy in this patient population.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78636/1/j.1526-4637.2009.00755.x.pd

    Absolute measurement of the unresolved cosmic X-ray background in the 0.5-8 keV band with Chandra

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    We present the absolute measurement of the unresolved 0.5-8 keV cosmic X-ray background (CXB) in the Chandra Deep Fields (CDFs) North and South, the longest observations with Chandra (2 Ms and 1 Ms, respectively). We measure the unresolved CXB intensity by extracting spectra of the sky, removing all point and extended sources detected in the CDF. To model and subtract the instrumental background, we use observations obtained with ACIS in stowed position, not exposed to the sky. The unresolved signal in the 0.5-1 keV band is dominated by diffuse Galactic and local thermal-like emission. In the 1-8 keV band, the unresolved spectrum is adequately described by a power law with a photon index 1.5. We find unresolved CXB intensities of (1.04+/-0.14)x10^-12 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 deg^-2 for the 1-2 keV band and (3.4+/-1.7)x10^-12 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 deg^-2 for the 2-8 keV band. Our detected unresolved intensities in these bands significantly exceed the expected flux from sources below the CDF detection limits, if one extrapolates the logN/logS curve to zero flux. Thus these background intensities imply either a genuine diffuse component, or a steepening of the logN/logS curve at low fluxes, most significantly for energies <2 keV. Adding the unresolved intensity to the total contribution from sources detected in these fields and wider-field surveys, we obtain a total intensity of the extragalactic CXB of (4.6+/-0.3)x10^-12 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 deg^-2 for 1-2 keV and (1.7+/-0.2)x10^-11 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 deg^-2 for 2-8 keV. These totals correspond to a CXB power law normalization (for photon index 1.4) of 10.9 photons cm^-2 s^-1 keV^-1 sr^-1 at 1 keV. This corresponds to resolved fracations of 77+/-3% and 80+/-8% for 1-2 and 2-8 keV, respectively.Comment: 23 emulateapj pages, accepted for publication in ApJ. Minor revisions, most notably a new summary of the error analysi

    De l'homme au chiffre. Réflexions sur l'observation démographique en Afrique

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    Ce manuel aborde de façon concrÚte les problÚmes posés par la collecte des données démographiques à partir de l'expérience des praticiens du domaine. La définition des concepts et les problÚmes linguistiques sont envisagés. Les phases de réalisation d'une opération sont examinées à travers l'organisation du travail sur le terrain, la cartographie, l'exploitation des données et l'archivage des documents. La derniÚre partie présente les méthodes de collecte particuliÚres à certains thÚmes (fécondité, mortalité, migrations, emploi et activité

    The X-ray surface brightness distribution from diffuse gas

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    We use simulations to predict the X-ray surface brightness distribution arising from hot, cosmologically distributed diffuse gas. The distribution is computed for two bands: 0.5-2 keV and 0.1-0.4 keV, using a cosmological-constant dominated cosmology that fits many other observations. We examine a number of numerical issues such as resolution, simulation volume and pixel size and show that the predicted mean background is sensitive to resolution such that higher resolution systematically increases the mean predicted background. Although this means that we can compute only lower bounds to the predicted level, these bounds are already quite restrictive. Since the observed extra-galactic X-ray background is mostly accounted for by compact sources, the amount of the observed background attributable to diffuse gas is tightly constrained. We show that without physical processes in addition to those included in the simulations (such as radiative cooling or non-gravitational heating), both bands exceed observational limits. In order to examine the effect of non-gravitational heating we explore a simple modeling of energy injection and show that substantial amounts of heating are required (i.e. 5 keV per particle when averaged over all baryons). Finally, we also compute the distribution of surface brightness on the sky and show that it has a well-resolved characteristic shape. This shape is substantially modified by non-gravitational heating and can be used as a probe of such energy injection.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Ap

    The deepest X-ray look at the Universe

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    The origin of the X-ray background, in particular at hard (2-10 keV) energies, has been a debated issue for more than 30 years. The Chandra deep fields provide the deepest look at the X-ray sky and are the best dataset to study the X-ray background. We searched the Chandra Deep Field South for X-ray sources with the aid of a dedicated wavelet-based algorithm. We are able to reconstruct the Log N-Log S source distribution in the soft (0.5-2 keV) and hard (2-10 keV) bands down to limiting fluxes of 2x10^{-17} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2} and 2x10^{-16} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}, respectively. These are a factor ~5 deeper than previous investigations. We find that the soft relation continues along the extrapolation from higher fluxes, almost completely accounting for the soft X-ray background. On the contrary, the hard distribution shows a flattening below ~2x10^{-14} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}. Nevertheless, we can account for >68% of the hard X-ray background, with the main uncertainty being the sky flux itself.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJL. Two figures, requires emulateapj5 (included

    The resolved fraction of the Cosmic X-ray Background

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    We present the X-ray source number counts in two energy bands (0.5-2 and 2-10 keV) from a very large source sample: we combine data of six different surveys, both shallow wide field and deep pencil beam, performed with three different satellites (ROSAT, Chandra and XMM-Newton). The sample covers with good statistics the largest possible flux range so far: [2.4*10^-17 - 10^-11] cgs in the soft band and [2.1*10^-16 - 8*10^{-12}]cgs in the hard band. Integrating the flux distributions over this range and taking into account the (small) contribution of the brightest sources we derive the flux density generated by discrete sources in both bands. After a critical review of the literature values of the total Cosmic X--Ray Background (CXB) we conclude that, with the present data, the 94.3%, and 88.8% of the soft and hard CXB can be ascribed to discrete source emission. If we extrapolate the analytical form of the Log N--Log S distribution beyond the flux limit of our catalog in the soft band we find that the flux from discrete sources at ~3*10^-18 cgs is consistent with the entire CXB, whereas in the hard band it accounts for only 93% of the total CXB at most, hinting for a faint and obscured population to arise at even fainter fluxes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

    “These Trees Have Stories to Tell”: Linking DĂ«nesÇ«ÌĆ‚Ä±nĂ© Oral History of Caribou Use with Trample Scar Frequency on Black Spruce Roots at Ɂedacho KuĂ©

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    For thousands of years Ɂedacho KuĂ© (Artillery Lake, Northwest Territories) has been a key water crossing site for barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus). Human disturbance of barren-ground caribou habitat in northern Canada has emerged as an important focus of study in the last decade; particularly in the Bathurst range of the Northwest Territories where caribou populations have declined by more than 95% since the 1980s. Guided by local Indigenous leaders and Elders, a collaborative research project was developed with the DĂ«nesÇ«ÌĆ‚Ä±nĂ© people of ƁutsĂ«l K’e DĂ«ne First Nation (2012 – 14). This paper describes linkages between knowledge derived from DĂ«nesÇ«ÌĆ‚Ä±nĂ© oral history and quantitative dendroecological analysis of trample scars on black spruce (Picea mariana) root samples collected at Ɂedacho KuĂ© to provide a better understanding of caribou use at this location. Findings from oral histories and dendroecology analysis were consistent with one another and with previous dendroecology study in the region, although some discrepancies were detected in data from 1995 – 2006 that require further study to elucidate. Key findings include relatively low caribou use at Ɂedacho KuĂ© during the 1930s and late 1960s, with use increasing into the 1970s and peaking in the late 1980s, as well as Elder and hunter reports of no caribou in some years between 2005 and 2012. This work addresses a gap in scientific data about barren-ground caribou movements at Ɂedacho KuĂ© prior to satellite collar use in 1996 and corroborates previously documented oral histories about the enduring value of Ɂedacho KuĂ© as critical habitat to barren-ground caribou. Given the drastic decline of the Bathurst caribou over the last two decades, more research is needed to understand movements and their relationship to population dynamics. In this context, the research approach described in this paper could be used as an example of how to meaningfully bring together place-based Indigenous knowledge and science in addressing an urgent issue of Arctic sustainability.    Depuis des milliers d’annĂ©es, Ɂedacho KuĂ© (lac Artillery, Territoires du Nord-Ouest) sert d’important point de franchissement de cours d’eau pour le caribou de la toundra (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus). La perturbation anthropique de l’habitat du caribou de la toundra dans le Nord canadien a fait l’objet d’études importantes ces dix derniĂšres annĂ©es, plus particuliĂšrement dans l’aire de rĂ©partition de Bathurst, dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, oĂč les populations de caribous ont chutĂ© de plus de 95 % depuis les annĂ©es 1980. Un projet de recherche collaborative guidĂ© par des chefs et des aĂźnĂ©s autochtones locaux a Ă©tĂ© conçu en consultation avec le peuple DĂ«nesÇ«ÌĆ‚Ä±nĂ© de la PremiĂšre Nation ƁutsĂ«l K’e DĂ«ne (2012 – 2014). Cet article dĂ©crit les liens entre les connaissances dĂ©rivĂ©es de l’histoire orale des DĂ«nesÇ«ÌĆ‚Ä±nĂ©s et l’analyse dendroĂ©cologique quantitative des cicatrices de piĂ©tinement se trouvant sur les Ă©chantillons de racines d’épinettes noires (Picea mariana) prĂ©levĂ©s Ă  Ɂedacho KuĂ© afin de mieux comprendre l’utilisation de ce lieu par les caribous. Les constatations dĂ©coulant de l’histoire orale et de l’analyse dendroĂ©cologique concordaient ensemble ainsi qu’avec une Ă©tude dendroĂ©cologique antĂ©rieure de la rĂ©gion, bien que certains Ă©carts aient Ă©tĂ© dĂ©celĂ©s dans les donnĂ©es de 1995 Ă  2006, Ă©carts qui se doivent d’ĂȘtre Ă©tudiĂ©s afin d’ĂȘtre Ă©lucidĂ©s. Parmi les principales constatations, notons l’utilisation relativement faible de Ɂedacho KuĂ© par les caribous pendant les annĂ©es 1930 et la fin des annĂ©es 1960, une utilisation accrue dans les annĂ©es 1970 ayant atteint un sommet vers la fin des annĂ©es 1980, ainsi que le signalement de l’absence de caribous par les aĂźnĂ©s et les chasseurs au cours de certaines annĂ©es entre 2005 et 2012. Notre recherche comble un manque de donnĂ©es scientifiques relativement aux dĂ©placements du caribou de la toundra Ă  Ɂedacho KuĂ© avant que les colliers Ă©metteurs Ă  transmission par satellite ne commencent Ă  ĂȘtre employĂ©s en 1996. Elle corrobore l’histoire orale documentĂ©e prĂ©cĂ©demment au sujet de la valeur durable de ?edacho KuĂ© en tant qu’habitat critique du caribou de la toundra. En raison de la chute importante de la population du caribou de Bathurst ces deux derniĂšres dĂ©cennies, de plus amples recherches s’imposent afin de comprendre les dĂ©placements et leur lien avec la dynamique de la population. Dans ce contexte, la dĂ©marche de recherche dĂ©crite dans cet article pourrait servir d’exemple montrant comment concilier les connaissances autochtones d’un endroit avec la science pour faire face Ă  un enjeu urgent de durabilitĂ© de l’Arctique.

    What can BeppoSAX do about the 2-10 keV cosmic background ? A progress report

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    We report the current status of the analysis of the MECS background using the entire dataset of the BeppoSAX Science performance Verification Phase. We have collected 360 ks of dark Earth instrumental background, 470 ks of bright Earth background and 1100 ks of blank field data. We are attempting to model the instrumental background in terms of its various components (in particular the spatial modulation of the residual contamination by the built-in Fe calibration sources), and then use this model, and the information on the vignetting and the PSF to derive the cosmic background in the 2-10 keV rangeComment: 8 pages, 9 figures imbedded, To appear in The Active X-ray Sky: Results from BeppoSAX and Rossi-XTE, Nuclear Physics B Proceedings Supplements, L. Scarsi, H. Bradt, P. Giommi and F. Fiore (eds.), Elsevier Science B.
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